Moral and Immoral, Pink and Red
by DenizenofTwilight
Summary: After KHIII, the King instructs an injured Kairi to try ruling Castle of Dreams for a short time, to see if it'll illuminate a way to connect the worlds again. Thankfully, though, Riku shows up to somewhat save Kairi from the force-induced exile, and the two seek out a comfort and fun in each other, as they learn the true meaning of compromise. RiKai.


**Moral and Immoral; Pink and Red**

Kairi plaited her hair into a perfectly even braid, as she waited for the horseman to come abreast with her house.

Jumping down the front porch of what was once Lady Tremaine's house, the red haired girl came face to face with Riku, just as he pulled up in front of the home.

And as he smiled at her sweetly, Kairi could tell easily enough-as she put her hands to her hips, in her trademark gesture-that the young man meant to climb down from the mount gracefully to get to her, but... his feet were stuck in the stirrups, it seemed.

Laughing so hard that she felt a stitch in her side, Kairi made the most of the out of the ordinary situation (that for once she wasn't the one being athletically challenged), and grabbed onto Riku's big arms.

And after a quick heave and ho-in which she pushed him forward and backwards-the Princess was able to successfully dislodge Riku from his confines, and enjoy thoroughly when he fell atop her, of course. She'd missed the feel of him being with her like this...

"Kairi, I-"

"Don't worry about it, Riku," Kairi was sure she said moreso to the out of place paleness on the boy's cheeks, rather to the boy himself. Really, Riku ought to have understood that she had nothing against these compromising positions, Kairi thought to herself. And when they were like this, Kairi found she had absolutely nothing to complain about at all. It was… nice.

As she shook her head in mirth, at the idea Riku had matured so much in certain ways, and yet… was a complete moron in others, Kairi was quick to wriggle herself out from under the boy's weight.

And after offering him a helping hand for once, she quickly retreated back into her temporary home, with Riku hot on her tail.

Walking right into the front room-or more accurately, the room Ventus and Aqua had come in during their supposed mission some time ago-Kairi had to wonder how long it would be until she could leave her current objective.

She didn't mind what she was doing, of course! In fact, she was glad she was able to do something useful, but... that didn't change the fact that The Princess of Heart missed having some Keyblade action. But hey, at least she wasn't waiting on the dreaded Destiny Islands anymore, right?

"So," Riku said, as he took to leisurely walking behind Kairi, and if the sound of ruffling fabric was anything to go by, had also opted to put his hands in his pockets.

Turning to be sure that her last theory was correct (because it would have been so cute, if he'd taken to putting his hands behind her back like she did, or something), Kairi almost got a face full of Riku, as they accidentally bumped cheeks at Riku having chosen _that _minute to speed up.

Torn between laughing hysterically, for her broken funny bone having been jostled, and crying at the bruise that was most likely forming on her cheek already, Kairi found herself wishing that just for once she could find a happy medium in her life. Like, instead of being ripped between the middle of amusement and pain, why couldn't she have been hit with a bout of lust or something? After all, the corner of their lips _had_ just touched hers, and-

_A__nyway_… Kairi thought amusedly to herself-as Riku looked about to start stammering in Tongues, for what he'd "done to her"-_I probably ought to steer the conversation in a direction that won't make Riku feel guilty_.

"So," Riku continued, interrupting Kairi's thought process and also startling Naminé so badly, that Kairi thought the Nobody within her might die of shock. "I see you've adopted an old-fashioned dress like Ella's. Brown, eh? Well, your hair does have shades of brown in it, so I suppose I could see i-"

Resisting the urge to punch Riku in the arm at that, as she looked at him a bit aggravated, Kairi couldn't believe that Riku was going as far as to say she'd choose a ball gown just for her hair color!

But then again, as she knew he was meaning to tease her, Kairi understood that Riku had probably chosen that comment, _because_ he'd known it would annoy her.

See? Though Kairi herself was one of the Seven Pure Lights, and loved her fellow Princesses on a level she did her fellow wielders, well... she also liked to poke fun at them from time to time. Her sister Cinderella, in particular, was one Kairi particularly liked to give a ribbing. And the fact that Riku was using one of her own jokes against her… Well, it just wasn't cool, okay?

Anyway, as Kairi had injured herself pretty severely during her last battle (though she was loath to admit that), it seemed that her willy-nilly Keyblade wielding was on hold for the moment. It was to that end that the King had meant for her, as well as the other Princesses, to try something new: to go to one of their fellow Maidens' homeland, and be the pillar of Light there for a change.

As every Princess technically had a different Light signature to them, Mickey thought that them holding up other places, even for a small measure of time, might prove to mean something. Perhaps it would illuminate one of the lines that had once connected all the worlds, for example That was Mickey's hope, anyway, and it was for that reason that Kairi had been the final Princess to join in on this trial.

Currently, she was staying at Castle of Dreams (as acting princess and everything), and was trying to live an as fitting of a lifestyle as possible. However, when Kairi had found the records of the world's true princess (hoping to shed some light on what her duties should be, as she waited for Cinderella to return), she'd been sorely displeased. Apparently, there were many things cited wrong in it (something that Kairi was slowly trying to set right now).

For one thing, the help of Terra, Ven, and Aqua were never mentioned in the country's records at all. And really, Kairi supposed that would've been a good thing, given the world order, were it not for two things. For one thing, they were trying to unite the worlds again, so the tales of Keyblade wielders really should have come into light for everyone to know.

And for another: Cinderella's own husband had written the darned thing, yet had somehow cited the wrong things in it! How the prince hadn't known of the three Keyblade wielders, when Cinderella had met all three (and they were instrumental in the two of them's happy ending), Kairi still didn't know.

Another weird thing was that it seemed the prince had forgotten to mention that the name "Cinderella" was something "Ella" was called in cruelty by her step-family. But perhaps the oddest thing of all...

Was that the papers couldn't seem to decide at all if Cinderella's dress had been white or blue at the dance. That Kairi didn't get in the slightest, and even Cinderella hadn't seemed to remember just what her ball gown had looked like.

Frowning just at the memory of it all, Kairi had to wonder if the Fairy Godmother had secretly been taking lessons from Flora and Merryweather or something. And- and...

"Please don't say that, Riku!" Kairi exclaimed at last, as she threw her hands up exasperatedly, as the mere memory of it all just seemed to make it all so much more stressful and frustrating. "I know we joke about the dress being white, since maybe the dress was modeled off of Cinderella's own hair color, but you know: For all we're aware of, it could be true! And for you to say such a thing, about me dressing due to the brown in my hair... well, I'm afraid you're going to jinx me, and have someone write _my_ history all wrong or something."

"Apologies, Kairi. I know you're under a lot of pressure right now. And the fact I rode a horse her for fun probably didn't help things, huh? It probably made you feel even more like you're living her life for real. So what do you say you forget about 'walking in her shoes for a day'? We could do things that we used to from the Islands. Or maybe you could convince Mickey to let you trade with another Princess, if this is getting to be too much for you."

Okay, so normally Kairi would have been beyond touched at Riku being so caring of her wants and needs. In fact, as she watched him standing there awkwardly-just as his words fully registered in her head-Kairi thought it was probably more than enough to make her fall in love with him all over again.

But there was another part of her... an exceedingly selfish part, she supposed, that was somewhat saddened that he'd seemed to forgotten how seriously she took her role as a Keyblade wielder. And so of course she didn't want to go to another Princess' home. She just wanted her arm to heal, to do her job here, and hopefully leave in no time flat.

After all… she had a certain duty to uphold, for starters. As she was the only one of the Pure Lights to also be one of the _Guardians_of Light, Kairi could barely stand it when she was forced to hang her Keyblade up and act... actually princess like.

But even more than that, she felt like she owed it to Sora and Riku to pick up some of the slack that they'd been carrying for her for so many years. So when she was unable to contribute to that, she felt much more useless than she ever had before.

Riku-seeming to realize what she might have been thinking about, as she slumped down in the pink, antique chair that Cinderella had once dreamt in-was quick to sit down beside Kairi and take her hand in his own.

Now, ordinarily, Kairi would have been bothered by such a princely gesture, after what the boy had unintentionally just hinted at. But noting with sudden alarm that he was making sure it was the callused part of his hands that met her own, Kairi understood then and there that Riku knew more than he let on.

And it was confirmed even moreso, when he looked down at his feet awkwardly, and explained that, "Oh, right. You like to fight don't you, Kai? I really shouldn't have forgotten about that. Sorry. But if you want, we can go outside and train or something. If we're on the dirt out there-that's much like the sand from our Island-I can't imagine you getting too hurt on it. What do you say? Will that... will that make you feel better about everything?"

And as it was, what Kairi had to say to that: was to lean towards Riku and peck him on the cheek, like they'd often done when they'd first started dating.

Then, pulling on his massive hands and ushering him upwards, the redhead meant to make him make good on the promise he'd just made her: the promise that was exactly what she'd needed to hear in her current state of mind.

But... the question remained whether or not she'd heed Riku's advice, and go out into the mulch-y and safe flower garden, or someone else entirely. Since her best friend was currently doing her a solid, in allowing her to train despite what Yen Sid ordained, Kairi thought that she probably should have respected his wish, and made sure they didn't get into trouble.

However... knowing that it had been too long since they'd really had some fun together (and even now, it was the slightest bit incomplete since a certain someone was out adventuring, as always), Kairi found that it had probably been too long since she was mischievous. So down the twirling staircase, over the cobbled floor, and through the front door they went.

And Riku, all the while, remained none the wiser to Kairi's disobedience...

Until they ended up in the front lot, that was; where it seemed that there was nothing before them but gray tar. And though Kairi had never been a big fan of tar before-or even gray, for that matter-as she took it all in now, with eager eyes, she found it to be the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

It wasn't too hard a material, she guessed. So if she got hurt again, Kairi knew it wouldn't be too bad, and in that... well, she had her freedom. And as much as she loved Riku and what he was doing for her, it was nice that she didn't always have to cater towards someone's wants, and they could just play normally again.

Yes, it was very nice, indeed, Kairi reflected, as she ran to her right, where a thin gate stood sentry, and she found one loose clump of tar landed over in the grass. And as she picked the particular rock like object up, she was almost surprised at how soft the piece was: almost hinting that it was the perfect place for her and Riku to spar at.

And as she ran the gray material up and over her cheek for one bizarre instant, Kairi found that it reminded her the slightest bit of the wisps of Riku's soft, gray hair. And so, Kairi smiled. And so, she was happy.

But Riku, on the other hand, seemed to be in a different mood altogether: for he seemed to take only one look at where Kairi was, and what she was doing, before quickly darting over to her in a motion that would have put Sora's "quick run" to shame, and gripped onto her arm almost fearfully, it seemed.

Turning around to face Riku, who was behind her-and maybe even meaning to extract her arm from him, if he was going to treat her like this-Kairi was about to demand that her older companion let her go, and stop treating her like a little girl, when he said with a tear running down his face (that landed onto the shorter Kairi's auburn hair), "Kai, you really shouldn't be standing in this place. You wouldn't _want _to be standing in this place, so can we please-"

Okay, so the sudden and startling emotional display of Riku's was more than effective enough to stop Kairi's tirade, but she still couldn't put her finger on what was so bad from the direction they'd come from. Unless... wait.

"Beyond those gates..." Kairi muttered breathlessly, as her eyes bore into Riku's, and she ironically felt like she finally understood Ella and what her story was at the moment. "Is that- is that where that pumpkin Unversed dropped bombs on Ella's step-mother and step-sisters, and almost hurt her, too?" And if she hadn't already known the truth (which in her heart she did somehow), the look of sadness in Riku's eyes now was more than enough evidence of the fact.

Idly, Kairi wondered if Riku might also have been able to know this for a fact: if he'd somehow tapped into Terra's memories, when they'd both been possessed by Xehanort, or something. And somehow... just the thought of that possibility made everything so much sadder and worse for Kairi.

And just then, as gray lightning clouds appeared overhead, and thunder crackled viciously-as if snarling for the fact that she and her companions had treated it as lightning for all these years-Kairi found herself regretting ever wanting to come out here, or fawning over the grayness. Just what- just what had she been thinking, anyway?

And as Riku pulled Kairi into his arms, just when the tears she was crying registered in her mind, Kairi's first thought was to shout and fight him; she didn't want to be treated like a child. But at the same time, when she seemed to note exactly where Riku was leading her back towards the house-where she should have stayed all along-Kairi reluctantly acknowledged it was for the best, and almost went limp against him, as she tried to figure out... just why she even cared what had happened to those awful people.

They'd been terrible human beings that probably would have become Heartless soon, anyway, Kairi thought. In fact, there was even a chance they could have become as evil as Xehanort had, seeing as how lust and envy were an even more powerful motivator than curiosity was.

So, in the end, Kairi should have been thrilled that her dear friend Ella didn't have to suffer anymore, she thought, but instead…she kept playing how the step-family must have died over and over in her head again.

It wasn't unlike the issues she'd first had to overcome in training with the Keyblade, either, as she'd never wanted to hurt anyone, but this time... Kairi couldn't help but feel it was even more ridiculous and unwarranted. It was something that had happened when she was only four, even, so what did it even matter anymore? And why, oh, why did she have to be so nice, and given such a sympathetic heart?

"Kairi... you're a good person, I don't think that's something you should ever feel sorry far. And if you're worried about ruining our day together, don't. It pales in comparison to me needing to help you if you're sad or something, so don't fret."

In truth, Kairi had yet to think about her having possibly ruined her and Riku's day together. But as that idea now implanted itself in her head, she found herself feeling bad for that, as well as the Unversed crime she hadn't committed. Ugh. Would she ever learn?

And why did it somehow feel as though the pain of her arm was making her thought processes so wonky? If nothing else, Kairi supposed that being in rehabilitation gave her too much time to think, which wasn't always a good thing, when you had somewhat split personalities, like she did (something she was sure came from the fact she was both someone who needed protected, as well as the one who did the protecting)… Sometimes, Kairi literally thought that she was going crazy…

"Ugh. Cinderella should come back as soon as you can," Kairi wailed desperately, as she finally made it back into the house with Riku, and nearly collapsed into her earlier seat. "I'm weird and am going to ruin this entire kingdom. I'm not meant for ruling. I'm only meant to govern myself, which is seen in my role as one of the Seven Lights."

If Kairi had expected Riku to give her some words of wisdom at that, like he often was known to, she would have been sorely disappointed. Because doing the exact opposite of what she would have expected, he went as far as to lean very close to Kairi (seeming to imply he was going to kiss her or something), before pinching her cheeks, like he might have when they were kids. And knowing Riku well, Kairi knew that this was his way of telling her she was being silly.

Somewhat enraged at that-though she was loath to show it, since her love seemed to be trying to comfort her, at least-Kairi fought against telling Riku that he was acting like Sora did, whenever he attempted to get one of them to smile, and instead opted to listen, as Riku filled in nonchalantly that:

"Perhaps you're looking at this in too emotional a standpoint, when you should be looking at it logically, Kairi. I mean, you know firsthand now had badly it sucks to get hit with fire. So in that, it makes sense that you wouldn't even want your enemies to suffer such a fate. Hell, we all know Sora would feel that way to a 'T', and I think even I would..."

And it was the self-loathing way that he said the last part that did it for Kairi more than anything else had. Why on earth was she worrying about the morally sound things she was feeling, when Riku himself had had to worry about his former immoral actions?

Though of course Kairi didn't blame him for anything-and actually loved him for all he'd went through in trying to save her, and being possessed by Xehanort-there was no denying that she was unintentionally making Riku think of things that were better left forgotten.

In fact, Kairi had almost been certain after his having become a Keyblade Master, that Riku was feeling better about all of this, but... apparently that wasn't completely the case, and his inner-demons were still very much there.

Worrying her lip between her teeth-as she tried best to figure out how to salvage the situation before her-Kairi suddenly noted herself reflected in Riku's sad eyes. And just like that, she knew.

Pointing with her thumb in a sideways direction, to indicate the small garden that was just outside Cinderella's front room window (that Riku had earlier wanted to train at, even), Kairi wasted no time in crawling out the small, square, and blue escape in front of her *so that she might finally give Riku what he had wanted).

And Riku-having finally seemed to note what Kairi was getting at-was quick to follow suit, as he made perfectly certain that Kairi didn't hurt herself with her motion, and that he himself got out, as well.

And only after the two teens had spilled through the small expanse that had been afforded them (and Kairi effectively ended up falling into the dirt somehow, even though Riku should have been the one having the most issues, since he was the burlier one), did Kairi finally rest easy on her feet, and summon her Keyblade to hand, like she'd meant to from the get-go.

She was going to destroy Riku's defense, if it was the last thing she did. And of course, in noting the stupidity of that thought, and how unlikely it was, Kairi couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you mind telling me what we're doing here exactly?" Riku wondered, as he pointed up at the artificial light above them-that kept the place from being too miserable-as they stood in the rain, and also helped grow the flowers.

But even with the artificial sun helping the doom and gloom outside, Riku must have thought it was still too nasty to fight. As he covered up his head up with his arm, Kairi noted that the dawn wielder looked about to go back inside, if she would allow it of him.

And it was times like this that she had to wonder: did he really think her so weak? After all, Riku had fought in many worlds in the pouring rain. So did that mean he just wanted to stay inside for her sake?

Glaring at Riku with the feral sort of look that seemed unfitting of one who made up the current Kingdom Hearts, Kairi mentally _dared_ Riku to look at her with parenting eyes. Because if he did, Kairi knew she wouldn't feel bad about tackling him, and then destroying him in battle, in the slightest. Nope. Not at all.

But instead, when Riku turned to Kairi with a smile on his face, she found that her heart was suddenly clouded with butterflies, and that she wanted to now leap to Riku for another reason entirely: he was just so cute and adorkable, and-

"Oof!" said Riku, as the red haired girl deemed to do as heart desired and jumped into her love's arms, but somehow seemed to head but him more than anything else. "Kairi, what's-"

"I decided that we should train out here, like you wanted to, Riku. You're the one who really seems to be suffering right now. And I want to make that go away, if I can. You've done so much for me, and-

"But anyway, compromise is key when it comes to a relationship, right? And you let me go into the front yard against your better judgment, so I'll give you your choice now. After all... the two of us being together is a compromise from the get-go: it employs that I be a bit Darker and you a bit Lighter. So please show me that you are Lighter now, Riku, and smile the slightest bit, okay?"

And it was almost poetic, Kairi found, that as she lie atop of Riku-like she had when he'd first come there that day-and his hands _finally _came to wrap around her, that it somehow felt like closure at the end to a perfect story. Riku was finally giving himself leave to love her like he deserved to, and to have more fun, and Kairi...

Well, with Riku she was reminded that she didn't need to be perfect all the time. And in the grand scale of things, what could possibly be any better than that? What more could she possibly want? Nothing: that's what. Even if she _did_feel a bit guilty about tearing Ella's vegetable garden to smithereens right about now.

"Kairi, that was beautiful and all-and if I were Sora, I'd probably be saying something cheesy back to you right now-but since I'm not Sora, I'm just going to ask how your arm is," Riku said with a certain twinkle in his eyes, that simultaneously made Kairi want to kiss him all over his body, but also backhand him.

Though she didn't mind that he wasn't always loquacious, when it came to their feelings (though he always made sure to let Kairi know exactly how he felt in other ways), and actually preferred that he wasn't trying to steal her position as poet in their relationship... well, she was a bit perturbed, if he was hinting that she'd be _that _bothered by her arm.

But then again... if really all he was hinting at was that he was worried about her, and cared about her (and he did have ample reason to worry about her arm, Kairi realized now, since she'd jostled it quite a bit, and had almost forgotten to dismiss her Keyblade before falling on it), she found that she couldn't be happier for that fact.

Sora... as much as she loved him and saw him as a best friend, always made her feel second fiddle and irrelevant to his duties and other friends. Whereas Riku loved Kairi in the way that she needed, after having been left alone for so long.

Still... even in realizing that this quality of Riku's made her love him all the more, Kairi supposed she wouldn't have been herself, if she didn't try to take the mickey out of her boyfriend in some way.

So standing up and away from Riku, Kairi found herself summoning Destiny's Embrace to hand again. And as she set up a barrier around them, so that Riku couldn't escape and no one could interfere (which, ironically, was similar to how Riku had embraced Kairi to save her from a barrier at The World That Never Was), the girl decided to have the fun and nice spar she'd meant to have with Riku all along. And to remind him that she was a force to be reckoned with, of course.

And though Kairi was almost certain Riku would go easier on her at the moment-or even throw the match altogether, if it came down to it-even that wouldn't have bothered her too much, since Riku still gave her quite the workout in fighting. He also always made her feel strong, by giving her the opportunity to leave a powerful dent in him, no matter what.

So summoning some of her flower petals to hand, as Riku got the meaning behind Kairi's actions and sprung to the defensive, the Princess of Heart was shocked for a moment to find that her usual purple petals seemed to be tinted more read at the moment.

Red... it was a color that was often associated with evil, and though Kairi would never dream think Riku was evil, she knew a lot of people would have paired him up with that color.

And Kairi found now-as she held the flower upwards in her hand, so it looked like a pair of lips-that she was happy for the change to her power. Though she knew that she and Riku were affecting each other in better and more balanced ways all the time, she'd never thought her powers would reflect that, seeing as how she was stuck as a pillar of Light.

Now, though... she felt better for this change; and more like a pillar to the entirety of the worlds and its people, like she was supposed to be, rather than a one-hit-wonder. Also... she almost felt freer, somehow.

So in beckoning Riku over to her, after their long fought and grueling battle against each other, Kairi instructed her blood knight to touch the petal in her hand, so that he might share in her glee, too.

And though Riku may have done just that, he also might have placed a kiss to the flower petal, before placing a lingering one to Kairi's petal pink lips, too.

And when they held their hands together between them tightly, Kairi found that even they would turn red with the pressure, and that in itself was truly beautiful.

**Author's Note: A RiKai story I wrote for my RL best friend's (Danielle's) birthday, as I know she loves this ship. So here you are, hon. I hope you enjoy it, and that you have a fantastic day and new year. Love you lots! -hugs- -Cough. You should so get back into KH, and play my BbS game that you still have. Cough-**

**ANYWAY… I really, really like this piece, if I do say so myself. I like the direction it went in and how it turned out, and I hope you all do, too:) This was a lot of fun to try out, so be sure to drop me a review and tell me what you think!**

**Ahh, KaiKu… to be honest, I like this pairing a whole lot (mostly because Danielle got me into them), but… this is probably the only time I'll ever write them, sadly. Mainly because SoKai is still my ultimate OTP (and always will be), and I usually can't bring myself to tear them apart. But if Sora were to ever die or something (or for whatever reason, Sora and Kairi couldn't be together), I would want Kairi to be with Riku, so…**

**Also, I do think this ship could use some more love. It sort of saddens me that no one seems to like them, when I think you could do a lot of interesting things with them. Especially since Riku SO had a thing for Kairi in the first game, at least. Yeah…**

**Oh! And story for all the mistakes this probably has. I've been writing and editing like a fiend lately, and though I checked this a few times… I still probably missed stuff, and unfortunately I don't have time to go check again. Sorry.**

**Welp, Shanna outie. See you guys soon!**


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